Coming Home
by LexiLopezi
Summary: Did some therapy writing because the first day of school was horrible, and came up with this. Can be taken as a standalone oneshot, or as a sequel another one called Endless War. Takes place after Gray killed Redmond and Blutarch, but before the robots.


**Coming Home**

_A/N: Wrote/am writing this on the first day of school. I need/needed some therapy after that. One-shot. TF2 belongs to Valve, the song belongs to... uh... I forgot the name._

He strolled along the streets of Boston, speeding up slightly as he entered familiar territory, mostly unchanged in the forty years he'd been gone. Turns out, he _hadn't_ been working for RED for three or four years. It had been three or four decades. When Respawn brought them back, it reset their memories, too. But now both Redmond and Blutarch Mann were dead, killed by their lost brother who'd been raised by eagles. It had sounded crazy, but wasn't paid to ask questions, just kill people.

There it was, the old [REDACTED] house. The last one at the end of [REDACTED] street. It had fallen into disrepair. Scout frowned. His ma would have kept the place clean, and gotten someone in to fix it up. She could have, given all the money he earned and sent back. He walked up to the front porch and unlocked the door with the extra key (hidden under the second flowerpot from the left).

"Ma! I'm home!"

Silence.

"Ma?"

No reply.

"Mike?"

Nothing.

"…Joey?"

More silence.

"_Anyone?_"

The only thing he could hear was his own breathing.

He wandered through the empty house, feeling his heart beating faster with every step. Where _was_ everybody?! Tiny details unsettled him, from the cobwebs in the corners to cracked and dirty dishes in the sink. It looked like no one had lived here for a while. He walked out in a daze, and glanced at the house next door. A boy, maybe eleven or twelve, was playing on the lawn. He leaned on the fence.

"Hey kid."

"Uh, hi mistuh. Why're youse in the [REDACTED]'s yard?"

"Used ta live heah. What happened to them? The [REDACTED]s?"

"Da grownups got caught in da middle of a fight between two gangs las' month. We could hear da shoutin' from heah, an' it were in da newspaper dad reads. Da old lady died a few days aftah dem. Ma said she could heah her cryin' every day 'til she went to dat place up there."

"…"

"Uh… you okay mistuh?"

"…Yea. 'M fine…"

"Ya look like ya seed a ghost."

"I gotta go kid."

"'Kay. Bye mistuh."

* * *

Scout sped through the streets of Boston. His ma was dead, his brothers were dead, his team was scattered around the world. Everyone, even the most perfect person, had problems. Scout, being far from perfect, had lots. His main one was violence. He was going to find the gang that had killed his brothers, and he was going to make them _pay_. There were only two rival gangs in the area the last time he'd visited, which was twenty years ago, but he'd bet his hat they hadn't moved. If he hung around their territory at night…

* * *

Five minutes later, he bumped into some of their thugs and enforcers. Ten minutes later, they were all lying on the ground, either concussed or dead. He twirled his bat, now stained with blood. Seven dead, one for each brother, and the rest unconscious. Now for the other gang.

* * *

Fourteen bodies would be found tomorrow. Somehow or other, Scout made his way back to the house. It felt more like an empty shell, but he needed a place to spend the night. It wasn't home anymore, though. Home was where family was. His family wasn't here. He flopped down on the couch and stared at the ceiling, lost in memories.

His brothers teaching him how to play baseball…

The first time he'd hit a home run…

When he'd first been hired by RED…

He could almost hear-

…Was that the phone?

Scout picked it up.

"Mr Scout?"

"_Miss Pauling?!_"

"RED wishes to rehire you."

"Wha-? How? Why?"

An exasperated sigh on the other end.

"I'd forgotten how much he talked… Gray Mann built an army of robots and is trying to take over Mann Co. You and the rest of your team, all who have accepted, will be fighting them off, along with your BLU counterparts."

"I ain't workin' with _BLUs._"

"You'll get a raise."

"How much?"

She said a number that made him choke on his own spit.

"_Th-that much?!_"

"Do you accept or not."

A pause.

"Yes."

"A train will be arriving to pick you up tomorrow morning, same time, same place, and get you to Teufort. And don't ask how it will get you there, you should know better by now."

Scout shut his mouth.

"Good day, or night, in your case."

She hung up.

* * *

Scout stepped off the train. Teufort looked the same, not that it had changed much the last few decades. He'd missed the place, even after leaving it a few weeks earlier (the REDs had been stuck at HQ for some time while the paperwork was sorted out). It occurred to him that his team was the closest thing to a family he had left, albeit a rather dysfunctional and trigger-happy one. He plugged in earbuds and nodded along to the song while walking to Mann Co.

_I'm coming home_

_Coming home_

_Tell the world_

_I'm coming home_

_Let the rain_

_Wash away_

_All the pain_

_Of yesterday_

_I know my_

_Kingdom awaits_

_And they've forgiven_

_My mistakes_

_I'm coming home_

_Coming home_

_Tell the world_

_I'm coming_

_Home_

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards slightly as a worn out sign proclaimed "Mann Co" in faded letters appeared in the distance.

He was coming home.


End file.
